1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an environmentally sealed terminating device, and in particular to a terminating device sealed with a protective silicone gel.
2. Technical Background
A communications service provider, such as a telephone company, may offer both voice and data transmission services over a communications network. Customers of the service provider, commonly referred to as “subscribers,” may purchase as many communications services as they desire and equip their homes, businesses, or the like with equipment to utilize such services. Subscribers are responsible for proper operation of the equipment and the service provider is responsible for proper operation of the communications network up to the interface, commonly referred to as the “demarcation point,” between the service provider wiring and the subscriber wiring. The demarcation point is accessible to both the subscriber and the service provider and is typically located at the subscriber site in a network interface device (NID) or building entrance terminal (BET) mounted on the exterior wall of a residential or commercial building, such as a home, apartment, office, or the like.
The NID or BET houses at least one, and typically, a plurality of wire terminating devices for interconnecting the service provider wiring with the subscriber wiring. As used herein, “terminating device” is intended to include any type of connector for interconnecting service provider wiring with subscriber wiring, configured with or without a protection element for protecting against a voltage and/or current surge, including but not limited to a line module, a protected terminating device (PTD), or the like. The terminating device includes one or more pairs of termination sites for the service provider wiring and one or more pairs of termination sites for the subscriber wiring. The terminating device typically further includes some type of electrical circuitry, for example a half-ringer or printed circuit board, and/or an electrical protection component, for example a metal oxide varistor (MOV) or gas tube, that is interconnected between the service provider wiring and the subscriber wiring. The termination sites for the service provider wiring are typically provided adjacent one end of the terminating device beneath a locked cover that is accessible only to service provider personnel. The termination sites for the subscriber wiring are typically provided adjacent the other end of the terminating device and are accessible to both the service provider personnel and the subscriber. The NID or BET may be further provided with an outer cover that is accessible to both service provider personnel and the subscriber, but is not accessible to unauthorized persons.
The NID or BET may be exposed to dust, dirt, moisture and other deleterious environmental effects. Accordingly, it is desirable to seal the termination sites to protect the terminating device from failure. When a terminating device fails, the subscriber is no longer able to access the communications network. Further, the service provider must dispatch a technician to the subscriber site to repair or replace the terminating device, at significant expense to the service provider. Terminating devices are available that utilize insulation displacement contacts and wire insertion holes on the side or the rear that may be sealed with a viscous, non-porous gel to protect the wire terminations, electrical circuitry and electrical components within the terminating device. A particularly effective terminating device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,500,020 to Chanh, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
In spite of the advances in the designs of terminating devices, the protecting gels utilized thus far have either been too fluid to be retained within the terminating device without leakage, or lack visco-elastic properties that permit proper connection of the provider or subscriber wiring within the terminating device. For example, in the embodiments of the terminating device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,500,020, a protecting gel that is too stiff impedes the movement of the actuating components and therefore requires an excessive force to terminate the wiring within the conductive contacts. However, a protecting gel that is too elastic generates an excessive restoring force that prevents proper or consistent termination of the wiring. It would therefore be desirable to develop a gel that does not leak from the terminating device, yet has visco-elastic properties that permit ready termination of the provider and subscriber wiring and other operation of the terminating device.